Beat of spinning drums to rock National Day performance in Putrajaya

PUTRAJAYA - A performance by 400 drummers of various races is expected to rock the stage at the 2023 National Day 2023 celebration at Dataran Putrajaya here, this Thursday.

The attraction at the drum performance will be the "Achun Spinning Drum”, which is used for the first time at this celebration.

The drum, weighing three kilogrammes and made of synthetic material, was designed by a lecturer at the Music Faculty of the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara), Shamsul Kamal Abd Rahman.

Shamsul Kamal, better known as Cikgu Achun, obtained the trademark from the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation (MyIPO) for the musical instrument this year.

It will be the first time the drum is used at a major national event, he said.

"I designed the drum in 2015 after returning from a music festival in Korea. I've just obtained the patent for it and am now using it for performances," said the choreographer for the drum performance at the 2023 National Day celebration this Aug 31.

Shamsul Kamal who holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) said he came up with the idea of producing a rotating drum as the only drums available were all static.

"The drums that we have now are made of wood and animal skin. When it rains, there will be a problem because the drums cannot get wet, but not the drum that I designed because it is made of synthetic material," he said.

Regarding the performance on National Day, he said the drum group would consist of 400 people, who included members of the "kompang” group from Aswara and UiTM.

Also involved in the performance are 762 dancers from the National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN) and 600 school children, he added.

He said the performance by the group will be accompanied by three songs, namely Malaysia Madani, Jalur Gemilang and Kurik Kundi, a song popularised by the country's number one singer Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin.

"We have been practising for two weeks. I promise the best performance from this group,” said Shamsul Kamal, who was born in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan.

Meanwhile, JKKN Deputy Director-General (Culture and Arts) Rosnan Nordin said the dancers involved i had been training for three months to ensure a mesmerizing performance at the National Day celebration which is expected to attract about 100,000 visitors.

"The dancers will be on the performance stage with the drum group throughout the event," he added.

He said the song "Kurik Kundi " will be sung by several artistes, namely Nadeera Zaini, representing the Malay community, Suki Low (Chinese), Roshini Balachandran (Indian), Zizi Kirana (Sabah community) and Hazraniza Dollah ( Sarawak) to reflect the unity of the people of various races and ethnicities in the country.

For this year, more than 19,000 participants will be involved in the National Day parade.

The 2023 National Day celebration themed "Malaysia Madani: Tekad Perpaduan, Penuhi Harapan” (Determination in Unity, Fulfilling Hope) will be held in Putrajaya on Aug 31.

This is the fifth time Putrajaya is hosting the National Day celebration. The previous ones were in 2003, 2005, 2018 and 2019. - BERNAMA